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Metro-North accidents cost $38M and climbing

Lawyers for several injured passengers say the railroad is pushing to settle cases to prevent release of damaging information.

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Emergency personnel at the scene of a Metro-North train that derailed just north of the Spuyten Duyvil station in the Bronx on Dec. 1, 2013.(Photo: File photo by Seth Harrison/The Journal News)Buy Photo

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The legal tab for two Metro-North derailments, includingone of the deadliest crashes in the commuter railroad’s 33-year history, stands at more than $38.4 million and is certain to grow in the coming years, a Journal News investigation has found.

The bulk of the payouts — $28.2 million in settlements and legal costs — went to injured passengers or the families of four riders killed Dec. 1, 2013, when a speeding Manhattan-bound train derailed along the Hudson River near Spuyten Duyvil in the Bronx, according to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Law. Of that, $22.2 million went to settlements and another $6 million to legal expenses.

The records obtained by The Journal News show that another $9.2 million in settlements has been paid to some of the 73 passengers injured when a New Haven Line train derailed near Bridgeport, Connecticut, on May 17, 2013, and hit a train headed in the opposite direction. Another $1 million went to legal costs and expenses.

The two mishaps, less than seven months apart, were among the first in a series of horrific accidents involving Metro-North trains, culminating in February when a sport-utility vehicle driven by Ellen Brody entered a crossing in the path of a northbound train in Valhalla. Five passengers and Brody, a mother of three from Edgemont, were killed in the deadliest day in Metro-North history.

The incidents spurred federal probes and led to questions about safety practices at the nation’s busiest commuter railroad and its devotion to on-time service.

“That number is huge,” said Jim Cameron, founder of Commuter Action Group, which advocates for Metro-North passengers. “I think it’s just another cost that has to be kept in mind when we look back at the history of the railroad and try to figure out what went wrong. Before all this happened, we all thought that Metro-North was safe. We had no idea how unsafe it had become.”

'Throwing money at us'

The settlement numbers are likely to grow in the coming years. To date, 174 of 292 claims in five major accidents since May 2013 have been resolved, most through settlements, Metro-North officials say. Claims include damages sought for personal injuries as well as lost or destroyed property, railroad officials say. They will be paid by Metro-North’s insurance carriers.

Lawyers with pending claims in the Spuyten Duyvil crash accuse Metro-North of an aggressive push to settle pending lawsuits to prevent more information about events leading up to the crash from coming out. Federal safety investigators say engineer William Rockefeller nodded off at the controls of the Hudson Line train, due to an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea coupled with lingering fatigue from a recent shift change.

Attorney Howard Hershenhorn said he believes there’s evidence indicating Metro-North’s parent company, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or Rockefeller knew about safety issues that might have prevented the crash. Rockefeller was going 82 mph along a curve with a 30 mph speed limit when the train derailed, officials say.

Hershenhorn represents the estate of Kisook Ahn, a 35-year-old Queens nurse returning home from a night shift in Ossining when she was killed. He is urging a Bronx judge to allow him to ask a jury for punitive damages — a move that could increase any potential payout —- should the case go to trial.

Kisook Ahn(Photo: Courtesy NBC 4 New York)

“We believe that there may be evidence in discovery which will show the knowledge of the MTA and Rockefeller rises to the level of punitive damages,” he said, declining to be more specific. Metro-North declined comment on the allegations.

“There’s been no finding in any of the settled lawsuits attributing any blame to Mr. Rockefeller,” Chartier said.

Rockefeller has not been fired from the railroad but is classified as out of service, meaning he cannot collect a salary, he added.

Metro-North Railroad engineer William Rockefeller is wheeled away from the area where the train he was operating derailed in the Bronx on Dec. 1, 2013.(Photo: Robert Stolarik, AP)

“Metro-North is literally throwing money at us to get these cases settled prematurely,” said Michael Lamonsoff, who represents Dr. Denise Williams, a Beacon dentist whose injuries have made it impossible to return to work. “I believe they’re trying to sweep these cases under the rug and get them out from under the spotlight.”

Lamonsoff said he’s unwilling to settle until he knows the long-term effects and costs of his clients’ injuries.

Attorney Robert Vilensky represents former New York City Police Officer Eddie Russell of New Windsor, who suffers from post-traumatic stress.

“I really think that settling is something of a cop-out,” Vilensky said. “They’ve tried to settle my case at least four times. To me, there’s something there. I don’t know what it is. I don’t think they want to testify about it.”

Russell was drifting off to sleep when the train crashed, according to his lawyer.

“He looked outside the car and it was headed for the river,” Vilensky said. “He thought his life was over.”

It’s unclear from court records whether the Lovell and Smith cases have been resolved. A lawsuit filed on Ferrari’s behalf is still pending in the courts.

Claims are also pending in three other major accidents but, to date, there have been no major settlements, the records show.

The others:

Robert Luden, 52: Eleven days after the Bridgeport derailment, Metro-North track foreman Luden was killed when he was struck by an eastbound train while working on tracks near West Haven, Connecticut, that were supposed to be out of service. The accident occurred after a rail traffic trainee working at Grand Central Terminal mistakenly removed a computer block used for sections of track that were under repair, according to federal investigators.

James Romansoff, 58: In March 2014, track worker Romansoff of Yonkers was killed when he was struck by a Poughkeepsie-bound train at Park Avenue and East 106th Street in Manhattan while working to restore power to tracks closed for weekend maintenance.

Valhalla. Six people were killed in February when a northbound Harlem Line train hit Brody's SUV after a grade-crossing gate came down on it. The SUV caught fire and parts of the third rail broke loose and pierced the train’s first two cars.

So far, Metro-North has spent some $200,000 in legal expenses on those cases, the records show.

Luden, a father of two, was a Navy veteran who’d worked for Metro-North for 27 years. His death prompted an outcry from union leaders who warned that the railroad had been slow to replace a workforce nearing retirement age with qualified workers.

Marisa Bellair, the attorney for Luden’s estate, said she’s had settlement discussions with Metro-North lawyers but has yet to reach an agreement.

“It will either settle or proceed to be put on the trial docket,” she said.

In the Bridgeport derailment cases, Metro-North has admitted liability and is working toward settlements that hinge on the extent of each person’s injuries, lawyers say. Passengers suffered brain damage, back and spinal injuries as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, said attorney Joel Faxon, who has settled five of the 10 claims he’s filed for passengers.

State investigators examine the scene of a May 17, 2013, Metro-North train collision in Fairfield, Connecticut.(Photo: Michael Graae, Getty Images)

“It’s not like a car accident,” Faxon said. “To a person, they have to relive this every time they get back on a train and they’re digging their hands into the seat. It’s a place you don’t want to be.”